Jan van Huysum’s exuberant, asymmetrical bouquet of heavy blossoms overflowing a stone vase contrasts starkly with Ambrosius Bosschaert’s tight, symmetrical Bouquet of Flowers on a Ledge, painted one hundred years earlier. One of the most famous contemporary painters in Europe at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Van Huysum heralded the rococo in his preference for pastel colors and overblown flowers suspended by stems that form grace-ful arabesques. A Crown Imperial, the large, red flower at the summit of the bouquet, was highly prized by collectors.
